Contemporary Circus World Premiere I HEAR YOU AND I'D LIKE TO RESPOND Comes To Cannonball Festival, September 8-18

"Fringe favorites" Almanac Dance Circus Theatre are back with their first full production since 2018, I Hear You and I'd Like to Respond.

Performed as part of Cannonball Festival, a major hub of the Philadelphia Fringe which the group also produces, at Icebox Project Space, the show will feature jaw-dropping acrobatics from the company's largest-ever ensemble of 8 incredible performers inside a touching, funny meditation on what it takes to change in the face of overlapping global catastrophes. Performed September 8-18, tickets ($5-$50) at Fringearts.com and cannonballfestival.org. Press welcome to all performances.

A circus of words, a flight to nowhere, a desperate attempt to make meaning in an unrelentingly confusing world. I Hear You and I'd Like to Respond explores the lengths we'll go to change our language rather than change ourselves. Artists and audiences alike board a metaphysical flight, traveling together to a visionary place of collective imagining. A Professor and a Facilitator -both on the precipice of revelation - attempt, in their own ways, to explain the world around them, only to realize what they are trying to communicate is nearly impossible for others to comprehend. But as the bodies of the passengers are thrown into acrobatic flight, a certain truth is revealed: either we will put aside our differences and save each other, or we will fall.

Birthed from the detritus of discarded good ideas and progressively queerer impulses in the face of the daily torment of interlocking systems of oppression, I Hear You and I'd Like to Respond features breathtaking ensemble and hand-to-hand acrobatics, captivating movement, earnest contemplations of how to do better, and a relentless soundtrack of words. The cast of devisor/performers features Almanac company members Lauren Johns, Nathan Alford Tate, Mae West and Darren Rabinowitz alongside some of America's most exciting contemporary circus artists in Kevin Flanagan, Sierra Rhoades Nicholls, and Liam Bradley, and Philly dance luminary Rhonda Moore.

What would we do if we had to do something? What does it feel like to decenter yourself from the narrative of your own life? How can you care about the earth as much as you care about your love life? Can we use our better selves in service of becoming more animal, less needy, more just, less selfish, more creative, less consumptive? Do you ever look around and just think, "there are too many things?"

The writing is on the wall, friends, we've got to transform somehow.

Almanac Dance Circus Theatre is ready to dive back into the Philadelphia Fringe Festival this year with the return of Cannonball. This second annual festival is an independently run Fringe Hub. Running September 1-30, including a week of performances before the start of Fringe, Cannonball features more than 300 performances of over 65 shows, spanning circus, dance, theater, comedy, and more. Cannonball returns to the Maas Building from September 8th-30th, and for the first time will present programming at the nearby Icebox Project Space at Crane Arts from September 1-18th. Events will take place indoors and outdoors. More information can be found at the festival's website www.cannonballfestival.org

Called "bold, unapologetic and boundary-breaking" by Billy Penn, Almanac Dance Circus Theatre is an award-winning, internationally recognized, Philadelphia-based performing arts ensemble dedicated to creating original works of genre-defying art. Previous "fringe hits" (thINKing Dance, Dance Journal, City Paper) include Exile 2588, Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes, Jeanne/Jean/John/Jawn, xoxo moongirl, and $7 Girl. Through hybrid experimentation, deep narratives, and open environments of circus learning, Almanac gives audiences access to a little bit (or a lot of) everything so they can experience the vicarious thrill of performance without barriers. Find out more at thealmanac.us.

The Fringe Festival is a 16-day-long performing arts celebration that takes over Philadelphia every September, boasting hundreds of performances by international, national and Philadelphia-based artists, presented by FringeArts. The city's public and private spaces are lled with a curated series of world-class perfomances and artists independently producing their own work in the true spirit of the international "fringe" movement. The party continues every night with FringeArts' Late Night programming in its beautiful venue on the Delaware waterfront - which houses the La Peg restaurant and bar, as well as an outdoor beer garden with a spectacular view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. This signature event o ers an unparalleled opportunity to see a cross section of the world's greatest arts experimenters at one time, in one city.

FringeArts is Philadelphia's home for contemporary performing arts, showcasing arts innovators from around the globe and cultivating world-class Philadelphia- based artists. FringeArts plays a vital role in Philadelphia's vibrant artistic community by presenting a year-round programming series of cutting-edge dance, theater, and music performances presented at its striking venue on the Delaware waterfront; the annual Fringe Festival which takes over Philadelphia with hundreds of artistically daring and socially engaging performances; and by providing opportunities for Philadelphia artists to develop and showcase new work. FringeArts believes in art making that tests boundaries-inspiring new ideas, passionate discussion and conceptual thinking, all essential for a healthy and vibrant society.

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